Taters gonna tate.

So I was just myselfing along on Facebook the other day and came across this:

Hating on Lomography

Lol “So nowadays there is absolutely no good reason for anyone to shoot on 35mmfilm except because they want to. Maybe you’ve heard of Lomography, which is the art of making people think their messed up crappy photos are a good thing. I’m not knocking lomography because it’s, like, art, isn’t it? But monkeys smearing their s**t on the wall can be regarded as art by some people too. Take a photo of THAT on some expired film for an entirely meta lomography experience.”

This had me taken aback a bit. I mean it’s one thing not to dig something, it’s quite another to compare it with monkey’s smearing fecal matter. That would be hyperbole. To me this suggests that the article’s author is maybe intimidated by tomography, or perhaps upset that some lomographers are more highly esteemed than he and his technical abilities are.

The thing is though, when you come off this strong. When you are so entrenched in one camp I have no compelling reason to discuss that maybe the point of photography is to make compelling, interesting imagery and not technical perfection. No when your bias is that strong I have but one response:

Taters Gonna Tate

When endeavoring in any art you have to develop some thick skin. Not everyone will like what you’re doing or how you’re doing it. While you might think it’s a minor disagreement on technique or taste for them it might literally be a transgression of biblical proportions. Like that time a older lady told me, in my booth at an art show, that my pinups were pornography and I should leave. I didn’t argue with her I just suggested she might like the content of the next booth more. When that didn’t satisfy her I recommended she speak with the event organizers if she felt that deeply about it. Unbeknownst to her, they asked me to come because of my pinups!

It’s not easy. Sometimes you won’t get a ton of reinforcement that you’re doing the right thing or on the right path. Sometimes it has to come from within. Just remember, when someone is seething right off the bat, it’s them, not you. They’re reacting to something within themselves that your work reached, or crossed, or doesn’t adhere to.